Specifications

10
Calibration
A calibration is simply an oscilloscope self- adjustment. The purpose of a calibration is
performance optimization.
There are three ways to calibrate an Infiniium oscilloscope:
• User mode, also known as a normal calibration, user calibration, or self calibration.
User mode includes the minimum set of calibrations and is intended to be run by
oscilloscope users. The user must be logged in as an administrator to run a self
calibration. In user mode you may choose to run time scale calibrations and interleave
correction calibrations, though those selections default to not run and they require
additional equipment. A self calibration for channels 1- 4 takes at least 4 hours to
complete, and an additional 4 hours for RealEdge channels 1R and 3R on 50 GHz
and 62 GHz models.
• Service mode, also known as a service calibration. A service calibration is performed
only by Agilent Service Center technicians. In service mode the 50 Ohm input
resistance calibration is performed, in addition to everything calibrated in the normal
mode. The time scale and interleave correction calibrations are run by default, though
they can be turned off. Additional equipment is required to run a service calibration.
A service calibration takes at least 4- 1/2 hours for channels 1- 4, and an additional
4- 1/2 hours for RealEdge channels 1R and 3R on 50 GHz and 62 GHz models.
• Factory mode, also known as a factory calibration. A factory calibration includes the
full set of calibrations, including time scale and interleave correction, and other
calibrations. A factory calibration is normally performed once during production of
the oscilloscope. All of the calibration factors are stored into flash RAM on the
acquisition board so that the calibration factors determined by the factory calibration
are preserved even if the hard drive is replaced or reformatted. Additional equipment
is required to perform a factory calibration on RealEdge channels.
The following section describes how to run a self calibration.